NASA Remembers Legendary AstronautThomas Stafford

Today we mourn the passing of Thomas P. Stafford atthe age of 93.

In December 1965, Stafford piloted Gemini VI, the firstrendezvous in space, and helped develop techniquesto prove the basic theory and practicality of spacerendezVous.

Later he commanded Gemini IX and performed ademonstration of an early rendezvous that would beused in the Apollo lunar missions, the first opticalrendezvous, and a lunar orbit abort rendezvous.

He served as the commander of the Apollo 10 'dressrehearsal' mission preparing for the first Moon landingand as Apollo commander of the Apollo-Soyuz TestProject (ASTP) mission, a joint space flightculminating in the historic first meeting in spacebetween American Astronauts and SovietCosmonauts, which ended the International space

race.

Throughout his career, Stafford helped us push theboundaries of what's possible in air and space, flyingmore than 100 different types of aircraft.